D.C. United has reached a buyout settlement with designated player Hamdi Salihi. The Albanian striker was due to make nearly $500,000 this season but wasn’t in the club’s plans. United GM Dave Kasper confirmed the move to The Washington Post on Friday.

Salihi, 29, scored six goals in 22 appearances last season. None of his 10 starts came after July 21 as he fell out of favor with coach Ben Olsen. D.C. traded for target forward Lionard Pajoy last year and has bolstered the front line with Brazilian DP Rafael Teixeira de Souza and former MLS MVP Carlos Ruiz during the offseason. Salihi has not trained with United during the offseason, according to The Post.

D.C. now has $350,000 in salary budget room and a DP spot freed up by Salihi’s departure. Kasper did not reveal the terms of the buyout and said Salihi likely will sign with a team in China. Several reports have pegged his destination as Jiangsu Sainty, a Nanjing-based club that was the 2012 Chinese Super League runner-up.

“Hamdi could have sat out this entire year and collected his full paycheck,” Kasper told The Post. “But in the end, he wanted to continue playing. I commend him for this.”

Ruiz joined United on Friday in Orlando, where D.C. will finish out the preseason Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic on Saturday with a consolation game vs. the Philadelphia Union.